


Sunrise

by Wallwalker



Series: Our Haven [8]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon Disabled Character, Community: over_look, F/M, Fanart, Ficlet, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-18 23:57:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2366702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wallwalker/pseuds/Wallwalker
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beginning of a morning ritual.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunrise

Barret used to hate waking up early in the morning. It hadn't been his choice, for one; Shinra had decided to turn the lights on, and he wasn't any good at blocking them out. It was just another reminder that his life wasn't entirely his own. But after the first time he found himself waking up and seeing the sky just start to brighten in the window, he'd figured it wasn't so bad, waking up so early. The sunrises in Kalm were amazing, just amazing. 

Maybe he only thought that way because he'd been stuck under the plate for so long; maybe there was nothing special about Kalm's sunrises. Or maybe if he said anything to any of the townsfolk, they'd just laugh at him. Say he ought to go to the mountains, or go watch the sun rise over the ocean, or whatever. He didn't care, though. He'd almost forgotten what a sunrise could look like - a real sunrise, not the blurry, pixellated shots they showed sometimes on Shinra TV. First time he'd seen it, he'd been stuck at the window, watching the whole show until the sun was too bright to look at. 

This time, he figured he might be able to get a closer view. The inn had roof access. Locked, but that wasn't gonna be too hard for him, not after some of the stuff he'd done. But when he arrived, the hatch was already unlocked. He pushed it up carefully as he could manage, and saw Tifa turning to look back at him. "Hey," she said, relaxing and putting down her hands as she recognized him.

"Hey." He pushed himself up - the thing creaked, but there wasn't anybody else around to hear it, he'd already checked. "Guess we had the same idea?"

"Yeah," she said. "The sunrises here are nice. I'm glad Aeris talked us into waiting another night."

Barret nodded as he walked up beside her. He hadn't needed much convincing; Cloud was the one who'd put up the argument. But Aeris had insisted. Smart girl. "Yeah. Same here." 

They stood side-by-side for a while, just staring at the colors in the sky in silence as the sun began to rise. The blue was being pushed up into the sky, and the horizon was colored a deep orange. There were a few rosy clouds in the sky. Really amazing, he thought again as he caught himself smiling. He glanced down at Tifa, wondering if she was smiling too... and then glanced again. She looked so _sad._ "Hey," he said.

"Hm?" She looked up at him, blinking. "Sorry, what did you say?" 

"Just wonderin' if you were okay. You seem kinda down."

"I'll be fine. I was..." She paused, shaking her head. "I was just thinking about things," she finally finished, looking away.

"Heh, yeah. Lots to think about, I guess. Glad we got a little more time to do it at least." He scratched the back of his head, grinning ruefully. Cloud was probably ready for them to head out. Barret was gonna go along with this follow-the-leader crap, if only because Tifa vouched for him, but right now the kid could sit his spikey-headed self down and wait for everybody to get their heads together. "What's on your mind? You wanna talk about it?" 

"Not right now. I just want to stay here a little longer." She was still staring at the sky. "It's been a long time since I've seen a real sunrise."

"Yeah. Me too. Five, six years... heh, way too easy to lose track." He sighed. "That's a damn long time to go without seein' the sun."

Tifa nodded. "For a while I tried to convince myself that I didn't miss it," she said softly. "I thought it might be easier that way, right? But... I wasn't any good at it."

He reached out and put his good arm around her, and felt her relax a bit as he rubbed her back. He felt her arm wrap around his back in return. "I don't think anybody is," he said softly. "I sure as hell wasn't."

They stood like that in silence, watching the sky, waiting for the sun.

  


**Author's Note:**

> The ficlet and art were done at different times. I wrote the story for a community on LJ back in '06, lost it when my flash drive disappeared (just before I was finally able to back it up, sigh,) then found it again while going through old gmail drafts. The art was more recent. They don't exactly match, but they have the same theme, so I put them together. 
> 
> [dA link to art.](http://fanaticalone.deviantart.com/art/FFVII-Barret-x-Tifa-16-Morning-Rituals-450261599) (I need to redraw the arms again. This was my second attempt and I'm still having trouble getting it right.)


End file.
